


(no one can) rewrite the stars

by MiaBrown



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Established Relationship, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Humor, IDENTITY SHENANIGANS, Identity Reveal, Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, oh you and her is always more like eerrrrrruhhaghhohahhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27236473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiaBrown/pseuds/MiaBrown
Summary: Marinette knew one thing. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this! She was supposed to be soulmates with Adrien, who she — okay, whoLadybug— dated. She was not supposed to be Chat Noir’s soulmate!Fortunately, she and Chat (who was about as pleased with the situation as the girl) both lived by the everlasting principle of making lemonades out of lemons. Faking to be each other’s soulmate while keeping up their initial relationships couldn’t be that complicated, could it?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 24
Kudos: 86





	1. you're my destiny?

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to ~~the manifestation of my crippling obsession with the concept of soulmates~~ my newest multichapter!
> 
> What you can expect from this fic is: love-square dates in every shape and form, identity shenanigans and my ongoing struggle to keep the angst out of the story.  
> What you shouldn't expect from this fic is: a consistent update schedule.  
> Thank you so much for being here, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> A big thank you to [Khanofallorcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khanofallorcs/pseuds/Khanofallorcs) and [AmberLambda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LambdaSoup) for beta reading!
> 
> Also, this is not a songfic. But this is the song: [Rewrite The Stars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI-HOQ27QEM)

This day was going to be the best Marinette had ever had.

She could feel it in her bones as she practically floated over the Parisian streets. The pleasurable feeling of the warm August sunshine on her skin only supported her conviction. 

However, her day wasn’t going to be perfect because of the beautiful bird chirping that filled the streets. Neither was it going to be the best day ever because she just got an email from the university she was going to attend in a few weeks about the orientation day. Her day was going to be  _ impeccable _ , because today was her birthday!

And despite the fact that Marinette wasn’t normally overly fond of birthdays, this day was special. As a matter of fact, it was her 18th birthday, which made all the difference! Because it meant one monumental thing. 

Today was going to be the day her soulmate connection with her boyfriend, Adrien, would get confirmed. The day when  _ finally  _ the whole world would have to acknowledge what the two of them knew for a long time now. That they were destined to be together. 

Marinette was aware that these were big words most people were wary to speak before they got reinforcement from the universe, but if there was one thing she was sure about in her whole life, this was it. She belonged with Adrien, now and forever. 

So, when people openly expressed their concerns about them starting their relationship before they were both legally adults — _more importantly_ , before reaching the age their soulmate connection could be detected — she just shrugged it off. 

She stood her ground firmly against the opposition that the public announcement of their relationship stirred up among the fans and the general public. It was her life, her feelings, she knew it better than anyone else. She wasn’t willing to let herself be intimidated by the masses, who croaked about ‘probabilities’ and ‘what ifs’. 

This wasn’t to say Marinette took being someone’s soulmate lightly. She knew it just as well as the rest of society, that being soulmates with someone was a sacred thing. Discovering your connection meant being in for an instant happily ever after as that person’s significant other. 

This naturally also meant that most people weren’t even bothering with dating, they shook hands with strangers and went their separate ways if there were no sparks. Marinette couldn’t blame them for this; it made the most sense after all. If Adrien hadn’t been in the picture, she was sure, she would have done the same thing. 

But he was and oh, how glad she was for that. After all, she loved him with her whole heart and the best thing was that she knew he felt the same way. When they could both feel that they were meant to be together, there was really no reason to waste their precious time on the odd chance that they wouldn’t be each other’s soulmates. It was out of the question. And the moment she would meet up with Adrien in front of the Eiffel Tower this evening, finally everyone would have to admit that. 

Marinette sighed dreamily as she rounded a corner and started walking on a side street towards her destination. She smiled to herself as she thought about how she had the whole thing all figured out. When their meeting in the evening came, she’d near Adrien with steady steps and a beaming smile, and the instant he’d reach out to hold her petit hands in his, her fate would be officially intertwined with his. At his touch, the unmistakable, comfortingly warm feeling of the forming of the soulmate connection would spread through her body; and by the time the golden sparks that indicated the creation of the everlasting connection would go out all around them, their lips would already be sealed in a tender kiss.

An incredibly public and romantic soulmate declaration. That would do nicely and Marinette would finally be able to prove it to the world, that despite every concern, she did belong to Adrien. 

Or rather,  _ Ladybug  _ would prove that. Because, technically, Ladybug, the superheroine of Paris was dating Adrien, not his very good friend, Marinette. But that was just as good, even if neither the world nor Adrien knew that it was virtually the same thing. Today of all days, Marinette was in too good a mood to dwell on such nuances. 

She had persuaded Alya to go on a celebratory lunch instead of their usual birthday movie night, so she could have dinner with her ‘mystery boyfriend’, as Alya had heard about him so many times before. You see, Marinette couldn’t very well tell her parents and friends whom she was seeing without compromising her own identity, so she stuck with the story of an anonymous boyfriend, which worked surprisingly well. It made getting away for actual superhero duties that much more easier too. 

All in all, Marinette was on cloud nine when she arrived at the Césaire family’s apartment. Alya’s mother let her in and offered her a tray of cookies to take from, which she accepted with a grateful smile, before letting her on her way to Alya’s room. 

Marinette, with several cookies in hand, slid open the door to Alya’s room without making a sound, correctly anticipating the view that would be waiting for her. After all, she was the one to pass on Chat Noir’s availability to the Ladyblogger when they were busy arranging today’s interview, so she was in no way surprised by the fact that she found her partner in Alya’s bedroom.

He sat on a chair in the middle of the room and pouted dramatically, while Alya, who took her place next to him, tried to hold back her giggles. She was holding a bag of Skittles while Chat Noir was in the process of expressing his indignation over the fact that, as the blind taste-test confirmed, the different colours did not, in fact, come with different flavours. 

Marinette only rolled her eyes at the pair's antics, and congratulated herself once again for setting them up for a one-on-one interview, excusing Ladybug from the equation. She spent a considerable amount of time in the spotlight anyway, and was always keen to indulge in the rare opportunities to let her partner shine. 

The duo was so hyperfocused on the obvious injustice of the candies that they only noticed her arrival when she almost fell over the tripod that supported Alya’s phone, while it broadcasted the live interview directly to the internet. However, when they spotted Marinette, both of them flashed a bright smile at the arriving girl. 

“It looks like our time is coming to its end,” Alya announced, redirecting her gaze to the camera. “Thank you, Chat Noir, for being here with me today and answering my questions of utmost importance!”

Marinette couldn’t even start to imagine what they had been talking about in the past hour, but she was sure that her friend would waste no time in letting her in on the details during lunch. 

“Thank you for having me! It’s always a delight to spend time in such a  _ purrfect  _ company,” Chat said in a conspiratorial tone that made both of them giggle with laughter all over again.

Marinette tsk-ed barely audibly with a smirk on her face. It wasn’t fair that they left her out of their  — supposedly  — inside joke. 

“Don’t tsk at me! Come and say hello to the viewers instead, Birthday girl!” Alya instructed her, still laughing, and without waiting for approval, she dragged Marinette into the picture. 

“Hey, everyone!” Marinette waved at the camera happily with the cookies in her hand. 

From the corner of her eyes, she could see as two pairs of eyes shone up at the sight. She giggled at her friends' childishly excited faces and turned first to Alya to thrust a cookie into her hand. She gladly accepted and started on her outro monologue while Marinette turned to Chat to give him one of the treats too.

However, as she handed him the cookie, she let go of it before Chat’s grasp could become firm on it, sending the biscuit falling towards the floor between the two of them. Marinette and Chat reached after it in tandem, only to accidentally brush their hands against each other. 

Chat’s touch made an unexpected, electric buzz run along Marienette’s spine. She stood unmoving, staring into her partner’s eyes in horror as an alarmingly warm feeling flooded her whole body. It started in her palm where her skin had accidentally met his hand and ran to the balls of her feet, directly through her heart, completely overwhelming her system. She saw sparks that almost looked like golden fireworks going out around them. Their shine reflected in the brilliant emerald eyes that looked at her in just as much shock and disbelief as she herself felt taking over her features.

However, the only thought her mind was able to produce was ‘ _ No!’ _

_ Nonononono!  _ it kept chanting.

“Oh my god! This is huge! You saw it first-hand here, on the Ladyblog! Chat Noir found his soulmate and she is none other than my best friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

The absolute silence that followed Alya’s excited announcement covered the room like a stifling blanket; while the air was still heavy with the shining soulmate sparks, that just didn’t want to fade away as easily as they appeared.

In the heat of the moment, Marinette didn’t know if she preferred to cry from devastation or shout in anger. 

Chat Noir kept on staring into her eyes with a stunned look, before his gaze darted down. She followed it until they were both staring at her palm on top of his leather-clad fist. Marinette let go of it immediately, as if she had been burnt. 

Chat brought his hand to the nape of his neck, before attempting to speak sheepishly. “Are you sure this is correct?”

“This can’t be right!” Marinette whispered at the same time, before clapping her palm over her mouth and spinning around to look at Alya with pleading eyes to switch off the live feed. 

“This is all for today, folks! Thanks for joining us, have a Miraculous day!” The Ladyblogger said goodbye to her followers, who possibly continued screaming on the other side of the screen after the stream cut off, and turned back to the pair with an ecstatic expression.

“The hell, girl!” she exclaimed before running up to her friend and pulling her in for a bear hug. “You never told me your mystery boyfriend was Chat  _ fucking  _ Noir!” she squeaked as she let her still totally dumbstruck friend go.

“No wonder you were so annoyed when I released that five-page analysis on why he and Ladybug are most certainly soulmates!” Alya added with a chuckle. “I mean, I was surprised that you were more bothered by it than Adrien, but it makes all the more sense now!” She shook her head with a laugh before continuing on a more serious and slightly apologetic tone. “Really, though, you could have told me you two were an item, I would have toned down the LadyNoir agenda on the blog.”

“I didn’t tell you because we aren’t-” Marinette wanted to explain but an arm swiftly landed on her shoulder and in no time Chat hugged her to himself, effectively silencing her with the surprise. 

“We didn’t tell you because it was a secret, wasn’t it,  _ Princess _ ?” Chat asked seemingly nonchalantly but his slightly higher pitched voice gave him away to his partner’s practised ears. Marinette could tell, he was just as surprised by this evolution as her. 

However, as Chat’s demeanour reminded her, being soulmates was a rather serious business  — as finding the one and only person by whose side you were destined to find happiness for eternity should be. So even if the situation felt baffling, Marinette couldn’t express her concerns openly. If Alya found out she hadn’t been involved with her soulmate before, it only would have led to even more questions that Marinette quite frankly wasn’t ready to answer. Consequently, it was much easier for everyone if she played the part, until they could sit down and discuss what the actual hell was going on.

“Yeah, it was a secret! But now all of Paris knows! That’s great. So great!” Marinette laughed in exasperation. 

“You could say the cat is out of the bag,” Chat winked and Marinette snorted. 

Was it weird that she felt relieved that some things never changed? 

“So, um, Alya. Would it be alright if we postponed that lunch? I kind of have a lot to talk through with my  _ minou _ ,” she looked at her friend from under her lashes, while gently removing Chat’s hand from her shoulder and holding it in her hand to give it a few pats.

“No problem, we can reschedule! But make it a movie night and you must promise to give me all the deets!” Alya beamed, seemingly consciously holding back from starting to bounce on the balls of her feet.

“Sure, that sounds fun,” Marinette smiled at her in a manner that she clearly learned from Adrien. “Thanks, Alya! ” 

With that, she grabbed Chat by his wrist and marched out of the flat. As the door shut behind them, she could still catch what Alya shouted after them cheerfully.

“Have a nice date!”


	2. what if we rewrite the stars?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [Khanofallorcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khanofallorcs/pseuds/Khanofallorcs) and [AmberLambda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LambdaSoup) for beta reading!

This day was the worst Marinette had ever had. 

She had played out many potential scenarios in her head that could have happened today, even things that could go wrong, like tripping and falling on her face in front of all of Paris because she was so lost in her boyfriend’s gaze or accidentally spilling ice cream on Adrien’s new shirt. They were all silly nothings compared to reality.

Discovering on live stream that she was Chat Noir’s soulmate and not Adrien’s was as beyond her expectations as it could get. 

Marinette sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose, as she and Chat Noir stepped onto the street in front of Alya’s house. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face her partner. 

“Look, Chat, we need to talk about this,” she started, mentally running over her options. 

There must have been a mistake, right? They couldn’t  _ really  _ be soulmates, could they? Even if everything seemed to point in that direction, it didn’t feel right. Well, it didn’t feel exactly wrong either — the thought of being Chat’s soulmate didn’t send an unpleasant shiver down her spine or make goosebumps rise on her arms, like she imagined it should have, if it had been inherently unnatural — but Marinette just knew that it wasn’t supposed to happen like this. 

“Yeah, we will. Over lunch!” Chat nodded and started down on the sidewalk without waiting for her answer, forcing Marinette to run after him if she wanted to catch up. 

They walked down the street in fast-paced motions. Chat was obviously searching for something with his eyes and kept his gaze on the windows of the shops they walked by, nibbling on his lower lip in concentration and not meeting Marinette’s eyes for a second. This was just fine by her, as his silence offered the perfect opportunity to decide on a plan. 

This whole situation was insane! Sure, Marinette liked Chat; over the past couple of years they became very good friends and when she was Ladybug, they made an awesome team. This wasn’t about him. Not at all; this was about Adrien, who she has always imagined would be her soulmate. She had no doubts about that, even for a minute, and now here she was, stuck in this baffling situation. 

A situation, which weighed heavily on Marinette’s shoulders. With only Chat Noir by her side, she felt like she had to be the one to think logically and come up with a viable solution. Just like in an akuma battle, she had to stay disciplined. She couldn’t afford to let her emotions get the better of her.

So, as the responsible hero that she was, Marinette tried to forcefully relax her stiffened shoulders and took several big breaths. She attempted to shrug off the paralyzing panic that threatened to take control of her, in favour of focusing on the task. She even decided to ignore certain implications of the situation, namely that she and Adrien maybe weren’t as perfect for each other as they thought before. That maybe they were making a mistake, and in reality, she belonged with Chat Noir. (Which would have been comical, really, as the boy used to have the biggest crush on her superhero alter ego, until she started dating Adrien and he had to see for himself that he really had no chance at her.)

She had to form a plan, to find a way out of this madness. Which was easier said than done. Marinette cursed her optimism, that she had never even talked about it with Adrien, what would they do in a situation like this. 

However, even just the thought of her boyfriend’s name flipped her carefully crafted, precise plan about keeping analytical on its head. She just wasn’t able to distance herself from the case emotionally when her happiness with him was on the line! She couldn’t remain stoic when the next few hours had the power to sabotage her whole future, goddamnit!

Well, at least this answered her previous question about what she wanted to do. When her heart wanted to rip itself out of her ribcage to even the thought of losing Adrien, she didn’t feel like she had much choice. But in all honesty, she didn’t need more options. Her mind was already made up. 

She could only hope that Adrien would feel the same determination, even after getting to know they weren’t soulmates. 

Her frantically beating heart sunk as the realization hit with its full force. She wasn’t Adrien’s soulmate. And even though the words tasted bitter on her tongue, they weren’t untrue. It didn’t matter how much she wished they were, she had to accept the fact that she couldn’t contradict reality. 

Her soulmate was Chat Noir. And Marinette under no circumstance wanted to hurt her partner, but what else was she supposed to do? She couldn’t act like his soulmate in good faith, couldn’t tell him she loved him and under no circumstance could she marry him in the span of a few months, as most couples did after finding their other half, because her heart beat for no one but Adrien. She couldn’t imagine a scenario that would change that, so she had to— 

“We’re here!” Chat said, coming to a halt before a cosy café and holding the door open for her. 

“Thanks,” Marinette mumbled, stepping over the doorstep of the unknown establishment. 

She had to give it to Chat, the café looked lovely. There were only a few people there, sitting around tiny tables in armchairs and sipping their coffee while chatting with their companions, or working tirelessly on their laptops at barstools. 

Despite the happy jingling of the bell over the door, fortunately, no one paid much mind to them as they entered. The cashier also kept her cool, only flashing them a bright smile as a literal superhero approached the selection of sandwiches on display. 

“What would you like to eat?” he asked Marinette with a mannered smile, as naturally as if they had been on a casual hangout, not preparing to discuss their common future.

“Number three sounds nice,” Marinette said, without even reading the name of the sandwich she picked from the top of the menu on the wall. It really didn’t matter what kind of meal would remain on her plate untouched until the case at hand was solved. 

Chat nodded and turned to the cashier to order two sandwiches with an americano and a latte. Maybe it shouldn’t have been such a surprise for Marinette that he knew what kind of coffee she liked; after all, they did hang out from time to time, sipping the drinks she made for them on her balcony. However, in the current situation, Marinette didn’t feel particularly great about his thoughtfulness. Her suspicions only got worse, when she started to search for her credit card in her purse and Chat waved her off, insisting on paying the bill. 

_ Oh no! _ This was a date. He totally thought this was a date and Marinette had to tell him,  _ her soulmate _ , that it wasn’t. That she loved another. That if there was a way for it, she’d rather forget about the previous half an hour altogether. 

She had to tell him, even if trying to turn down a soulmate was as far as it could get from standard procedure. Even if the last thing she wanted to do was crush his heart into a million pieces, she felt like she had no other choice.

Marinette swallowed through the lump in her throat as she followed Chat Noir to the very back of the café with her tray in hand. He picked out a secluded table with two huge armchairs and lowered himself to the edge of one of them, placing his tray on the table. Marinette followed suit and anxiously squirmed in her place, as Chat regarded her with an anticipatory look, propping his elbows on his knees and supporting his chin on his hands. 

“So... Soulmates, huh?”

“Looks like it,” Marinette laughed awkwardly. “Unless it was a really elaborate prank.” For which she would have been immensely grateful. 

But apparently, it wasn’t, if Chat’s equally awkward chuckle was any indication. So Marinette took a deep breath and launched into the monologue that she had to get out of her chest before she’d do anything stupid and sharpen the misfortunate situation any further. 

“Look, Chat. I really like you. I highly appreciate your friendship, and I even think that if there wasn’t anyone else, we could probably work out romantically, but the thing is that I... kind of… have a boyfriend.”

Chat straightened in his sitting position, a grin taking over his features. 

“Alya just said so, but I hoped it was serious enough that you’d start with this,” he said, sliding back on his chair seemingly relieved. “Because, the fact of the matter is, I also have someone! With whom I’m in a relationship, I mean.”

“You-you do?” Marinette was totally shocked. Since when, and how did she, as Ladybug, never hear of this mysterious significant other before? But, what was ultimately more important, did this mean…

“Yeah, I do. And while you're a really fun and awesome person, Marinette, and we obviously have a lot in common — like a certain disregard for social expectations — I can’t imagine my life without her. You see, I’ve always thought that she’d be my soulmate...” he trailed off, looking at the girl from under his lashes.

“Huh,” Marinette said intelligently before overcoming her initial shock and perking up. “Chat, that’s awesome!”

She contemplated her next choice of words for a bit, before ultimately deciding that transparency was a value she had to build her new relationship with Chat on, otherwise they were doomed. She was told many times before that open communication was the key to any good relationship — and even though it was quite tricky to live by this principle when one was a superhero with multiple secret identities, she wanted to finally try it.

“You know, I feel the same way about my boyfriend. And I still have to talk with him about this, but if that would be okay with you, could we just ignore this whole soulmates business?”

“Ignore it?” Chat looked at her with a questioning look, reaching for his coffee to take a sip. 

“Is that not what you meant? That you’d rather keep dating your girlfriend, regardless of what the universe seems to know about our relationships?” Marinette held her breath, waiting for the answer that could make or break her friendship with Chat Noir.

“No, no! I’d  _ love  _ to do that, if it would be alright with you-”

“It sure is!” Marinette enthused, a bright smile taking over her whole face.

“-but I’m not sure that’s really an option,” Chat finished, scratching the nape of his neck.

“I mean, I’m aware that it’s pretty unorthodox. It’s true that I haven’t heard of anyone who would have chosen someone over their soulmate, and I know that our dates also have to agree to do this, but I don’t see why we couldn’t try,” she said, opening her arms in incomprehension. 

In the past few minutes they got so close to a happy ending she hadn't even dared to hope for previously. She was on board, and so was Chat, so what could have been the problem?

“Marinette. All of Paris knows that  _ we _ ”— he pointed intently at the two of them —“are soulmates.”

Oh.

_ Oh no. _

Marinette couldn’t deny, in her ecstasy about their problem practically being solved, the tiny detail of the declaration being broadcasted live to all of the world to see had effectively slipped her mind.

“But we can… We still could...” 

She tried to find a solution, any solution, but none was coming her way. She understood all too well that they couldn’t convince the whole society that what they wanted to do was actually reasonable. That they couldn’t defy the social norms that told stories about soulmate bonds being sacred and superior. 

And, normally, she would have agreed. It was an insane idea. The existence of soulmates was the best thing that could have happened to humanity! Well, generally speaking. Certainly not in her and Chat’s case but she had never met someone before, for whom the whole soulmate system wasn’t working out. Everyone seemed to be happy with the results — choosing a partner for life was easy and self-explanatory, and when they said ‘until death do us apart’, they meant it. That was exactly the reason why no one would understand why sticking with this predisposed arrangement wasn’t good enough for her. 

And if she wanted to be honest with herself, Marinette had to admit that she couldn’t explain it to them. She had no logical arguments to justify her decisions with. Disregarding their soulmate bond didn’t make sense. But who said that sensibility was something she wanted from love?

Marinette looked at Chat who sat in his chair with his shoulders slumped and cat-ears dropped down. He must have really loved his girlfriend, for he seemed just as small and anguished as Marinette felt at the thought of a future that didn’t involve Adrien.

She didn’t even want to think about such a future. 

Of course, Chat was reliable and attentive — just like Adrien — he was fun and easy to spend a whole afternoon with — just like with Adrien — and overall, he was a wonderful partner, a real keeper. But he had an incorrigibly huge flaw. He wasn’t Adrien. 

And despite his good qualities, Marinette couldn’t help but feel like a future with him wouldn’t be anything but pretending not to be hurt by the Adrien-shaped vacancy in her heart until the end of her days. A future like that would be nothing but fake. Fake like Adrien’s model smile when he pretended that everything was peachy. Fake like the excuses she kept coming up with for why her friends could never meet her boyfriend. Fake like— 

Maybe, after all, fake was exactly the solution she was searching for.

“We can fake it!” Marinette declared confidently, all of a sudden regaining her composure with a beaming smile. 

When Chat kept on staring at her with a questioning expression, she started to explain. “We can fake being soulmates! We can make the public believe that we’re dating, while keeping up our initial relationships in secret!”

She didn’t add that hers didn’t really have to stay secret, since no one would see Ladybug and Marinette having separate relationships as something that was out of place. And if Chat Noir had a girlfriend in his civilian identity, which was more than likely, he should be alright as well. Marinette only felt sorry for the poor girl, who couldn’t know her boyfriend ran around the Parisian rooftops in a skintight leather catsuit by night. 

Marinette took a big, satisfied sip from her coffee and looked contentedly as Chat contemplated her offer, the worried wrinkles on his face smoothening. 

His eyes shone with undeniable adoration that Marinette could only explain by thoughts about his girlfriend filling his head and heart at the same time. His expression transformed into one of mischief and determination as he smirked.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Princess!”


End file.
